Taking the Fall
by Xeen Cyr
Summary: Peter has been injured. Tales of a scientist and a wheelchair....


**FRINGE**

**Taking the Fall**

_No in__FRiNGEment intended. _

_Note: __Peter is injured. Humour. Not episode related....  
_

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Walter, would you stop making a fool of yourself please?" Peter protested with a frown.

He looked around at the oblivious students who were walking the campus in their close vicinity and sighed. Then he made an unsuccessful attempt at crossing his arms and finally let his chin sink to his chest with a pout.

"Son, when did you lose your sense of humour? You seem to be in a very bad mood today, I thought that will cheer you up!" explained Walter.

He was sporting a large DJ bag and a brownish felt fedora and walking briskly.

"Which part am I supposed to find funny?"

"Come on, it is funny Peter, you got to admit that much," Olivia chuckled in their back.

"Don't you take his side Olivia," said Peter while he awkwardly turned to her and tried to see her face. "It's hard enough as it is without you taking side."

"But I'm not! I genuinely thought that it was funny," she said.

She pushed the wheelchair up the ramp and turned the corner to the Kreske Building.

"Stop making a fuss about it Peter, it's no big deal. You got to relax. I promise I'll take care of you," she patted his shoulder. "You do know that I'm not gonna let anything else happen to you, that I am here for you, that I will protect you?"

"See? You're making fun of me again! And what if I don't want to be protected? What if wanting to be protected makes me feel helpless. What if being protected was that lead me into this… position to begin with?"

"You are not going to go through that argument all over again, are you? Keeping you away from that investigation was the best choice. And you're right that was my call to make. You just slipped and broke your ankle, knee, shoulder and wrist. It happens."

"It could have been worse," Walter prompted. "You could have suffer brain damage. Maybe you have," he pondered, "I probably could run some tests…"

"I still can't understand how you managed to hurt yourself that bad without leaving the lab though," Olivia smiled.

"Hey would you shut up already?" Peter hushed her with a warning side glance. "It's not exactly public knowledge at this point. You would not mind to let me come up with something a bit more romantic or bold or even manly, would you?" he whined.

Walter stopped in his tracks and Olivia made a U-turn with the chair and waited for the doctor to get back to his senses. Peter rolled his eyes and sighed again, a deep crease forming on his forehead.

"I remember when you were a child Peter, you…"

"No Walter, not now," Peter waved his valid arm adamantly. "Not one of your convenient stories about my childhood and the one time when I caught an unknown deadly virus and you built a vortex to Beltelgeuse so that your friends could cure me."

"I don't have any friends in the Orion constellation, Peter, stop being peevish, it is irritating. If you had not left college, you would know that it would take enormous amounts of energy and a lot of money to stabilize a wormhole."

"Don't tell me that you can!"

"Theoretically, I probably could. Given enough time and the proper equipment…"

"Stop right now! I don't want to hear it, okay? There's no limit to your insanity. What's next? You're going to build your own spaceship and boldly go where no one has gone before?"

"I unfortunately am too old for such a journey, but in 1987, I posited that one could use singularities to travel through space and most likely time."

"Are you listening to yourself Walter? All that jibberish about dark matter and black holes?"

"Very well. But you should know that I was only referring to the fall you took in our alley on your first ride with that wonderful red bicycle of yours when you were three."

"You're the one who unscrewed the training wheels, for god's sake!"

"You did not need the extra help," Walter muttered.

"Obviously what I needed was a helmet!"

Walter shrugged and scurried away in the hall.

Olivia grinned and leaned to Peter's ear while she started to push the chair again.

"It's going to take a while before you're back on your feet. And when you do, you'll have to put up with physical therapy for quite some time. It can only do you good."

"What do you imply? That I could exercise more?"

Walter turned around and stood in front of the chair, blocking their way.

"You do know that you could, son. And probably drink less too."

He slammed the lab door wide open and step aside to let them pass him.

"Says the addict to his next of kin," smirked Peter.

"Astrid will see that Walter is taken care of and I'll have your back," said Olivia. "Just don't ask me to cook, it's not my strong suit."

She stopped, hung her coat near the door along with her hat and scarf and helped Peter do the same.

"Who's Astrid?" Walter asked with an eager look.

He tossed his hat on the hanger with a flourish and disposed of his coat in a twirl but held on to the bag.

"Is she pretty?"

"Astrid, Walter," explained Peter, "like in your assistant Astrid Farnsworth, fantastic hair, large doe eyes…"

"Oh, Miss…"

"Hello Walter. Hi Peter, feeling better? I heard you had a hard time on a case yesterday? Olivia told me you fell from the facade iron emergency staircase of an apartment building? You're lucky you did not fall to your death!"

Astrid patted his hand and took Walter away immediately.

"I have your computing spreadsheets ready, doctor. Would you like your coffee right away?"

"Miss, I brought you in this bag the most extraordinary thing. They call it…"

Peter gave them an amused glance and turned his attention back to Olivia.

"You should have told me."

"I'm glad I didn't," she grinned. "It was far more rewarding to watch you throwing a fit."

"Isn't it a bit farfetched? The staircase of a building?"

"Why's that? She didn't question it for one second."

"I see, the more implausible, the more likely to be accepted…"

"Exactly, you're beginning to get the hang of it."

"We should play poker some time."

"If you promise to keep away from vending machines, I will."

"Would you stop that? Anyone can put his foot on a paper wrap and slip, can't he?"

-o-

_did you like it?_


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